As you're developing your business plan, a crucial issue you need to keep in mind is who will read it and what they will expect to learn from it. One way to categorize the people who will make up your audience is to divide them into two groups.

Internal audience: those people, such as yourself and your key employees, who will be a part of your business. You are a very special member of this audience, since you will be using the plan on an ongoing basis. Be sure that the plan employs a format and structure that you are comfortable working with.

External audience: those people outside your business venture who will want to see some or all of the documents that make up the plan before they decide that they want to invest in, contract with, or otherwise have a relationship with your business. This includes such people as your banker, venture capitalists, credit rating firms, vendors, and others.